At the Tasting Table

Day Four of Bordeaux's En Primeur offered easy, enjoyable futures from the Cabernet territory of the northern Médoc.

By Roger Voss

The Cabernet moment

Last

Thursday was the turn of the Cabernet territory of the northern Médoc as the en primeur circus moved on. This is the land of the great growths, with their outspoken and opinionated directors. They have plenty to say about 2007.

At Château Mouton-Rothschild, director Philippe Dhalluin says it was the year of both Cabernets. He believes the Cabernet Franc was at its best ever, and was happy to include it in his Château d'Armailhac. While as for Château Mouton-Rothschild, "this was the year of the Cabernet Sauvignon, the right varietal on the right terroir." Vines planted on marginal land, vines planted away from the very best terroir were hard to work and hard to ripen.

Just across the hill, at the Rothschild family's other great estate, Lafite, director Charles Chevallier talked about the wayward nature of the fermentation. "In some years, we can ferment every vat the same way. This year, we had to work out what to do with each tank. And making the blend was just as difficult."

Like Chevallier, who calls 2007 "a pleasurable wine, one to drink", Bruno Rolland, cellarmaster of Château Léoville Las Cases in Saint-Julien described as "a year that's easy to understand. It has fruit, and will develop, but it is already in balance."

Jean-Guillaume Prats at Château Cos d'Estournel in Saint-Estèphe talked of the long season - 162 days from flowering to harvest, an unheard of time in Bordeaux. And he brought out another theme which runs through everybody's conversation when describing the 2007: "we had to be very severe in our selection, we needed low yields and only the best fruit. The quantities of the First Wine, called the Grand Vin in Bordeaux, are as low as they have ever been, as lower yields and stricter selection when the wine was being blended take their toll.

The verdict on these wines is that they are pleasant, enjoyable, likely to develop relatively fast. Whether they will be worth buying depends on the price, and at this question the whole Bordeaux wine world, owners, cellarmasters and sales directors, coughs discreetly and looks the other way. They know a big price drop is what all their customers expect - but will they deliver?

On the Wine Road

Wine flows in many directions. Leading up to the Olympics in Beijing, there are massive amounts of Bordeaux wines going to China and Hong Kong. It is why buyers from China are out in force this en primeur week - even though they are buying older vintages.

But this surge isn't limited to Bordeaux. There are calls for tenders for wines from other areas of France, California, Italy, Australia, Austria, Germany, Chile and Argentina. This grand movement is a good indication of why China moved up to the Number Three globalimport spot in 2007.(UK is Number One, US Number Two and Germany is now Number Four.) Depending on the continued flow in 2008, speculators tell us China could move to Number Two.

And if you are in France, and the non-stop tasting and wine reviews from the 2007 futures/barrel tastings in Bordeaux are making you thirsty for a sip. Bordeaux has just the answer. Why not zip to taste and drink the incredible, just-released 2005 vintage from more than 100 grand cru chateaus? On May 17 and 18, in the beautifully restored 18th century city, Bordeaux chateaus open the bottles and the estates for "le Week-end des Grands Amateurs." In other words, people who love wine.

Each chateau will present the 2005 and another vintage between 1997 and 2004 (dealer's choice) on Saturday (53 euros/$83). Chateau dinners in the Médoc, Sauternes, Saint-Emilion and Pomerol follow (130 euros/$202).

Sunday features free open house tours. Golfers get an extra bonus-the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux Cup at 9 a.m., Sunday (60 euros/$94). For reservations, contact ugcb.net or bourdeaux-tourisme.com.

Lean, touched by green peppers as well as spice from high toast new wood. The fruit doesn't seem rich enough for the wood. —R.V.

86-88 Château de Lamarque, Haut-Médoc

Very dry, somewhat extracted fruit which misses the freshness of the year. Chew on matchsticks and blackberry tannins. —R.V.

85-87 Château Malescasse, Haut-Médoc

This has no fruit, a wine that only shows hardness. —R.V.

Pauillac

93-95 Château Lynch-Bages, Pauillac

Smoky aromas, with new wood. It istough, hard, the tannins severe and giving austerity. Yet, there is also rich Cabernet is this modern, dense wine. —R.V.

92-94 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, Pauillac

The fruit appears soft, mellow, layered with generosity, with only hints of tannins. The spice from the wood spills over into the rich sweet fruit flavors. To finish, it has vivid blackcurrant acidity.—R.V.

92-94 Château Pichon Longueville, Pauillac

Showing the maturity of the Cabernet Sauvignon in 2007, this is a structured wine, already well balanced, packed with blackcurrant, finishing with dry tannins. —R.V.

91-93 Château Pontet-Canet, Pauillac

New wood dominates the aroma here. The wine is firm and tough, the fruit a long way away. It's going to need considerable time, but the potential is there. —R.V.

Impressively perfumed, packed with blackberry fruits, balanced with dark tannins. Of course, there are new wood flavors, but the fruit surrounds it impressively. The aftertaste is ripe, juicy. —R.V.

92-94 Château Ormes de Pez, Saint-Estèphe

Rich wine, blackberry jelly flavors, good acidity, a wine that is in fine balance, its density offering medium-term aging. —R.V.

91-93 Château de Pez, Saint-Estèphe

Big, bold, solid, dense. This is classic Saint-Estèphe, with its layered blackberry over firm tannins. —R.V.

91-93 Château Haut-Marbuzet, Saint-Estèphe

A powered wine, with modern, smooth wood and fruit flavors, ripe, dense, the tannins in good balance. —R.V.

91-93 Château Phélan-Ségur, Saint-Estèphe

Solid, dense and concentrated, there is plenty of matter here, the fruit supporting and tannins supporting each other. Good potential.—R.V.

89-91 Château Cos Labory, Saint-Estèphe

This is tough, the tannins dry and dominant in the way of classic Saint-Estèphe. The aftertaste is more fruity, but still hard. —R.V.

89-91 Château Lafon-Rochet, Saint-Estèphe

Ripe, spicy Cabernet aromas here on this dense, tannic but also fruity wine. It has dryness, but the juiciness is also there. —R.V.

88-90 Château Haut Beauséjour, Saint-Estèphe

Dense, maybe too dense for the fruit, although the tannins are not so dominant. It is powerful, tough, foursquare. —R.V.

88-90 Les Pagodes d'Estournel, Saint-Estèphe

The second wine of Cos d'Estournel. Very fruity, fresh, full of blackcurrants, jelly fruits, sweet. There are some dark tannins, finishing with vibrant, black fruit flavors. —R.V.

Saint-Julien

93-95 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou, Saint-Julien

As a sign of the vintage, there is less of this wine than of the second wine from the property. As with other top wines, severe selection has paid off in a firm, finely structured wine, packed with solid tannins, even though there is some extraction. The high tone black fruit balances with the structure. —R.V.

93-95 Château Léoville Las Cases, Saint-Julien

A big, luscious wine, very approachable initially. On the second taste, the sweet tannins show, while blackcurrant flavors give a burst of acidity. It is balanced, the structure already coming into place. —R.V.

93-95 Château Léoville-Barton, Saint-Julien

Dry, the wood dominated by new wood toast. It's powerful, certainly, and it is going to be a dense, important wine, but relatively slow in developing. —R.V.